Faith
by TMNT-Queen
Summary: He's been missing for three months. They all thought he was dead. But now that he's home again, things can finally go back to normal...or can they? (Rated T just to be safe.)
1. 1- Rescue

_A/N: This idea was just kinda bouncing around in my brain, so I decided to release it. Dunno if I'll do a part two or not._

 _...of course...I might. There's a kinda big plot twist that I hinted at a little bit in here. ;)_

 **Rescue**

"Leo, where are you?!"

"...h-here..."

The single word was so faint it was barely audible. But it was enough. Mikey followed its echo until it lead him to a tiny, dark cell. And there, hanging in chains and covered in blood, was Leonardo.

The ninja raised his head slowly, offering the tiniest smile - yet that smile spoke volumes. "H-Hey," he whispered, coughing a little at even that amount of effort.

Mikey's heart squeezed in pain at the sight of his once-proud leader and brother. He grabbed his lockpick set and rushed to the cell door, nimble fingers quickly opening the old lock. He was at Leo's side in seconds. One hand gently supported his injured sibling as the other broke the cuffs on too-thin wrists.

It had been three months since they'd seen or heard from Leo. Three months since he vanished on a solo patrol. Donnie and Raph had given up hope - but not Mikey. Never Mikey.

No. Mikey believed in Leo the same way Leo believed in him. Each knew the other's strengths and weaknesses, faults and failures. Each knew what kept them going and what tore them down.

And each knew that the other would never give up.

So Mikey held out for those three long months, silently begging the universe to keep his brother alive until he could get there and help him. And when the orange-banded turtle heard a few Foot soldiers discussing the "mutant freak" that was being held in Shredder's dungeon, he knew that someone had heard his prayer.

Leo groaned in pain as the cuffs finally came free. He slid down the wall into Mikey's waiting arms, so weak he was barely able to move.

"Jeez...what did they do to you, bro?"

The only answer Leo gave was a whimper. He closed his eyes tightly, resting his head on his brother's shoulder. "...h-home..."

"Don't worry, Leo. I got you. I got you."

Ten minutes later, the two turtles were sitting in the shadows on an empty fire escape not far from the Lair - well, Mikey was sitting. Leo leaned against him, mostly asleep. Mikey bit his lip, glancing around them and then down to Leo's face.

His scarred, bloody face. The eyes that he hadn't opened since they were inside that horrible prison. The massive bruise on his jaw and neck.

The eldest stirred a bit, shifting his weight around to get more comfortable. A sad smile appeared on Mikey's lips. "It's okay, bro. I'm not going anywhere."

Mikey's phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out, reading the new text from Donnie. _Where are you? Raph is worried._

He sighed. Since Leo had gone missing, Raph had taken over as the worry-wart of the family. The brawler tried his best to keep them all safe - and he had done an okay job, truth be told - but Mikey would never forgive him. _A_ _ny_ of them. They'd all given up on the one person that mattered the most.

But still...he wasn't trying to make it harder than it had to be. So he picked Leo up again, fully determined to carry him the rest of the way to the Lair. He winced at the ease with which he was able to lift his big brother. The master ninja used to be so toned and muscular that it was nearly impossible to even pick him up at all. But now it was no problem.

The trip home was over relatively quickly, though getting a nearly comatose Leonardo down the ladder into the sewers was an interesting process. But Mikey managed.

He staggered into the Lair two minutes later, calling out for the others. "Don, Raph! Get in here! It's an emergency!"

"What's the emergen-" Donnie's question was cut short as he realized exactly who his sibling was holding. Mahogany eyes filled up with tears and he rushed over. "Leo? Oh my Kraang...I thought- we thought-"

"I know," Mikey replied softly, once again looking down at the injured leader.

Raph came out into the main room, fired up and ready for a good bout of yelling...which immediately died on his lips.

"No freaking way," the hothead whispered. "He was...he was gone..."

"Not gone. Shredder had him. And he's still alive."

The weak moan that escaped Leo's mouth spurred Donnie into action. He gently took Leo from the youngest, carrying him into the lab. "This is gonna take a while, just going by the outward appearance. From the looks of it, Leo is severely dehydrated and malnourished. I wouldn't be surprised if he's got internal injuries."

"So what now?" Mikey asked, swaying on his feet suddenly. Raph reached out and caught him.

"Easy, Mike. Don is gonna take a good long look at him while you get some rest."

"But I don't need-"

"You can barely stand on your own two feet. You've probably been going nonstop for the past couple days. You need sleep."

"...alright. But can I sleep in here with Leo? I just...I don't want to lose him again."

"Sure," Raph said softly. Who was he to deny the poor kid? Leo's absence had been the hardest on him out of all of them - though that was probably due to the fact that Mikey still believed he was out there somewhere.

A pang of guilt and regret flashed through the de-facto leader but he buried it swiftly. No time for that now. Later, he could dwell on the fact that he'd abandoned his own flesh and blood. But not now.

There were four cots set up in the lab, but nobody said a word when Mikey laid down on the same one as Leo. The youngest curled up against Leo's side, closing those brilliant blue eyes and exhaling quietly. He was asleep in seconds.

Donnie and Raph shared a long look, neither one of them speaking for a few minutes. "...what do you think?" the red-banded turtle asked eventually.

"I honestly can't believe it," Don admitted. A semblance of pain appeared on his face for a brief moment and then it was gone. "I thought...I thought he was dead, Raph. I told myself to let him go because he was never coming back. I gave up on him and...and now he's here again. Now I have to face the consequences of my decisions. And that's terrifying for me. He was in that prison for three months because I decided he wasn't around anymore. If I had just searched a little longer, then maybe we wouldn't be here."

"It's not just your fault. We all took part in letting him go, so we all share that blame. Well, except for Mike. He always believed that Leo'd come back to us."

"We need to learn to trust his instincts more, I guess. Trust _him_ more."

"Yeah..." Raph murmured in agreement, watching his siblings sleep. "At least we get a second chance. Maybe this time it'll be different."

 **A/N: Uncertain about that ending...what do you guys think of the one-shot as a whole? Is it good enough to become a two-shot? Would you be interested in reading more?**

 **Please review.**


	2. 2 - Truth

_A/N: Again, definitely didn't expect such a response on a half-baked idea I wasn't even sure about posting in the first place. Thank you all very much for the reads, follows, and reviews. :)_

 _Also...don't hate me for what happens in this chapter._

 **Truth**

Raph was correct about one thing: it _was_ different, though not for the reason any of them wanted - or expected. There were so many injuries in and on Leo's body that they all sort of blurred together. Except for one.

"Reflexes lagging," Donnie mumbled as he examined his oldest brother, "Glucose levels incredibly low. Heartbeat erratic." He reached for a penlight to check dilation, gently lifted one of Leo's eyelids, and shined the light into the cobalt-colored orb.

Nothing.

A frown contorted his face and he ran the beam back and forth, trying to see what the tracking ability of his sibling's eye was.

Not even a twitch. The pupil remained enlarged, even when the light shined directly on it. Heart pounding against the plates on his chest, Donnie checked Leo's other eye...and got the same results.

Realization hit the genius like a freight train and he dropped the penlight, staggering back a few steps. "No," he whispered. "No, no, no. Please, God, no...don't let it be true." But of course there was no answer. There was only silence and the horrible, ugly, terrifying truth.

Leo was blind.

* * *

Donnie didn't know how to break it to them. He'd always had contingencies for a million different scenarios. Severe burns? A special mutagen-based-aloe would soothe the ravaged skin. Broken leg? Easily set and casted. Arm cut off? A metal cuff specially designed to fit on the turtles' toned biceps.

But this...this was new territory. This was something that he'd never even _dreamed_ about planning for - much less planning on having a solution ready.

Leonardo - his leader, his brother, his _friend -_ was blind.

The hopelessness of the situation hit him once again and his knees buckled. He collapsed onto the floor and pulled his legs to his plastron, nearly hyperventilating. _I don't know if I can fix this. Oh, Kraang, how_ _do I fix this?! How can I tell the others?_

 _How can I tell Leo?_

A knock on the door snapped Donnie out of his thoughts and he hurriedly stood up, brushing himself off. He wiped at his face, hoping that his beak wasn't red and his eyes weren't bloodshot. Then, calmly as possible, he opened the door. "Yes? Oh, h-hey, Raph."

The brawler eyed him, concern very much evident in those gold eyes. "Everything okay?" he asked. "You've been in here for a long time."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I-I've just been making sure there's nothing really wrong with-" Don's voice cracked. "-wrong with him."

"Is there?"

"Nothing I can't fix." The lie tasted bitter on his tongue. He hated himself suddenly. But he plastered on a smile and shrugged. "Is there a particular reason you came by?"

"Just to check on you," Raph responded, his tone gentler than it should have been. Gentler than it would've been if none of this had ever happened.

The purple-banded turtle swallowed against the lump in his throat. It took a minute to register that his brother was speaking again.

"-ikey asked me to see if you were hungry. He made some tuna-casserole-type-crap, but I know you like tuna so I figured it was a safe bet."

"Oh, yeah...yeah, I'll be right there."

He pretended not to notice the relief that flooded Raphael's face when he agreed to eat. He honestly hadn't been eating much at all lately. He was still too upset with what had happened all those months ago, and then Mikey brought Leo home - _Leo,_ of all people - and his world had shattered all over again. Suddenly he had to face the truth of what he'd done - what they'd _all_ done - that night so long ago.

And because he and Raph had given up, because they'd turned their backs on their training and their pasts, Leo had to pay the price.

He would never forgive himself for that.

 **Please review.**


	3. 3 - Fear

**Fear**

As soon as Leo opened his eyes, he _knew._

Sure, he'd had his suspicions, especially since his eyesight had been so terrible back in the prison. It was so dark in there anyway that he figured he was imagining things.

But now he was back in the Lair - in the lab, which Don always kept brightly lit so he could see what he was working on - and the leader couldn't see an inch in front of his face. Everything was black, with the exception of a few dark grey areas in his vision which he chose to assume were actual lights and not just his imagination.

He was blind. And it was absolutely terrifying.

Leo had done blindfolded training since he was ten years old, as an offshoot of his regular katas and meditation. That wasn't scary. It wasn't scary because he knew that the darkness, the inability to see the world around him, would end eventually. But _this?_ This wasn't blindfolded training. This was real. So, so utterly real.

How would he tell his brothers? How would he keep up with his job as leader? How would he protect his family and Clan?

Guilt and fear and anguish crashed over him in a wave and he swallowed. A strangled noise escaped his lips and he clapped a hand over his mouth.

The eldest had felt extreme relief when Mikey rescued him from that cell where he'd been for three long months. Yet under that relief was pain, because he knew what was coming. He knew how crushed his little brother would be when he discovered the truth...and that it was his fault.

A voice snapped Leo out of his thoughts and he flinched, automatically shutting his eyes. _Mikey_. "You okay, bro?"

"Yeah," he responded in a voice still slightly raspy from disuse. "I'm fine. What are you doing out of bed, Mike? It's almost two in the morning."

"Couldn't sleep," was the quiet reply. A weight settled onto the cot and a smooth head came to rest on Leo's shoulder. "I keep thinking."

"About what?"

"That night...what would've happened if we _hadn't_ split up on patrol. If we hadn't gone out at all. Things would've been different."

 _More than you realize, little brother._ "You need to let all that go. Everything's fine now." Lie. "I'm home safe, Don and Raph are still here, Sensei's not as tired now-"

"But something is just...not the same," Mikey whispered. "I can feel it. I don't know what it is but I can feel it."

Before Leo could say anything else, there was the sound of footsteps in the doorway. Donnie's voice cut through the air with the barest hint of an edge - not sharp, but reprimanding all the same. "Mikey, you need to get some rest. Remember what Raph said about you being up all this time?"

If Leo could've looked at the youngest, he would have. As it stood, he was only able to blink in surprise. How long _had_ his baby brother been awake, exactly?

"Sorry, D. I just had to check, y'know?"

Check to make sure it was real that he was home, Leo supposed - that it wasn't just some nightmare born of fevered dreams and deep-rooted desires.

The weight lifted off of the cot, taking with it the scent of cinnamon and oranges. Wide lips pressed a quick kiss to the leader's forehead and then vanished again. "See you in the morning, Leo," Mikey said softly. Then he was gone.

The lab settled into a silence so large someone could easily hear a pin drop. But Leo knew he wasn't alone yet.

"...you didn't tell him."

"How could I, Don? He was so happy to have me back, and then he was scared it wasn't real. I can't tell him. Not yet."

"He's going to find out eventually, you know."

"Hopefully by then, it'll either have cleared up or you'll have found a cure." The eldest knew it was unfair to put that burden on Donnie's lanky shoulders but he really had no choice. None of them did at this point.

"...yeah," the resident genius murmured in reply. "Hopefully."

 **Please review.**


	4. 4 - Blame

_A/N: So nobody, including myself, caught my slipup in the last chapter (or if you did, you were just super nice about it, haha). I had Don confront Leo with the fact that he didn't tell Mike about his blindness, but i never had Don tell Leo that he knew. My bad. XD_

 **Blame**

Raph figured it out six days later.

He'd been in the lab on and off each of those days, but it wasn't until he brought in a movie for them to watch on his battered laptop that things started going wrong.

"I don't feel watching a movie right now, Raph," Leo told him quietly. The katana-wielding ninja carefully kept his eyes closed and his face turned away. "I've got a headache and I really don't think that watching a movie would help."

"All you've been doing since you got home is laying here and sleeping," Raph retorted. "C'mon, bro, this'll be good for you. If your headache gets worse we can always turn it off."

With no way out, Leo gritted his teeth and agreed. The movie turned out to be one of his favorites - at least he knew each scene well enough to fake watching it. But around the halfway point, Raph realized something.

"You're not enjoying it."

"It's _Red_. Why wouldn't I enjoy it?"

He could feel the weight of the heavy green gaze on his face, watching him. Taking in his posture and his expression. "You tell me," came the even-toned response.

The leader blinked, scowling at the ground - or, at least, the approximate location that the ground occupied. "I'm tired, like I told you before. I've still got a headache. And staring at a screen with Bruce Willis on it isn't exactly helping me out at all. So I'm _sorry_ if I'm not enjoying the movie to your specifications, Raphael. Maybe next time you should listen to me when I tell you how I'm feeling."

There was a beat of silence and then Raph stiffly closed the laptop. "Alright. If that's how you feel then I'll just leave you to wallow in self-pity."

"I'm not-" Leo began before he could stop himself. He picked up his brother's scent long before Raph's face was shoved into his own, and closed his eyes as a reflex.

"You are! You haven't really eaten, you haven't come out to see the rest of us - you haven't even _looked_ at anybody! And while you've been in here sulking like some stuck-up jerk, Mike's been crying himself to sleep every night because even though you're back you still aren't _back._ "

The news came as a shock to him. His eyes flew open. Mikey was that upset? "I never realized..."

"Yeah, well...guess he's a better ninja than you th-" Raph paused midsentence, and his sibling felt a wave of shock roll off of the stockier turtle. "What's wrong with your eyes?"

 _Oh no._ "What do you mean?"

"They're all... they're all glazed and stuff. Cloudy." There was the barest hint of worry in Raph's voice, but he hid it well.

Leo, on the other hand, was a horrible liar. "Allergies. Probably not used to the sewer air anymore."

There was a beat of silence. "I'm getting Don."

"Raph, don't-"

"Donnie, get in here! Leo's- mmph!" Quick as a viper, Leo's hand shot out to cover Raph's mouth.

"Shut up!" he hissed.

The hothead jerked away and fixed a glare on his face - not that he could see it. "Why? If something's wrong, he needs to know."

"Donnie already...he already knows," Leo replied quietly, his shoulders sagging.

"Knows what? Leo, what the shell is going on?"

"I... well, it's...it's hard to explain. I can't, um..."

Raph said nothing as Leo tried to figure out how to break the news - and ultimately fell into silence. After a while, the red-banded turtle spoke up. "Leo," he said softly, "You're blind, aren't you?"

And there it was, in stark black and white. The leader's breath caught in his throat and his heart skipped a beat. He blinked through hot tears and bit his lip, trying desperately not to cry. His reaction was answer enough.

Strong arms slid around his shoulders and pulled him close. He buried his face in Raph's neck and breathed in a mix of woodsmoke and gasoline and cinnamon, all lighter notes of his brother's natural musk.

"I'm sorry," he wept. "I'm so sorry."

Raphael, meanwhile, was trying to come to grips with the situation. His mind was spinning. Leo was blind.

Leo was _blind._

But there were hot tears running down his neck and plastron, and a shaking, sobbing Leonardo was wrapped in his arms. Raph's own breakdown would have to wait until he was alone and his brother didn't need him to be strong.

"You got nothing to apologize for," the brawler said firmly. "This isn't your fault."

And then, so softly it was almost impossible to hear: "No...it's Mikey's..."

 **A/N: Boom! Cliffhanger! XD** **Review? Please?**


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